


That's how a superhero learns to fly

by WanderingWanda



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 13:12:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5292134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingWanda/pseuds/WanderingWanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Adrien would have loved to say that he was a born hero, someone who knew from the very beginning that he could make a difference. Unfortunately, he was not. Not at all."<br/>When Adrien gets his ring, he doesn't know what to do with it, whereas Paris has found its hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's how a superhero learns to fly

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic in English, yay. French being my first language, there are probably some mistakes here and there, I apologize!  
> Bonne lecture

Adrien would have loved to say that he was a born hero, someone who knew from the very beginning that he could make a difference. Unfortunately, he was not. Not at all.

When he got his ring, he was scared. So, so scared. Such a tiny jewelry contained powers he had no idea could exist. And it was his. What was he supposed to do with it? Plagg, his kwami, explained him that he was not the first person to posses the miracle stone, and that he would not be the last.

“What did they do with those powers?” Andrien asked, his voice slightly shaking from anticipation.

For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, Plagg let go of the Camembert that Adrien had to buy for him to finally open up a bit, and looked directly at the human, his cat-like eyes shining like two little orbs.

“Well, some of them became “heroes”, saving their city. Some of them used the ring for their own benefit, and would now be called “villains”,which is ridiculous, if you ask me. Yet, it was always their choice. I only help when I am asked nicely. What do you want to do, Adrien?“

Hearing his name coming from the mouth of the small creature made the situation a lot more absurd than it already was. He was just Adrien Agreste, a teenage boy who had no idea of what he wanted to do with his life. He was only a model because his father was a famous fashion designer; actually, he did not like modeling that much. Being homeschooled for a major part of school career, he did not have a lot of friends. He did not feel particularly brave. Quite the contrary, the mask he wore at school (the perfect boy with a perfect family and a life so perfect that nothing could compare to it) was the proof of his cowardice. He was afraid to be himself around other people, because he could never live to their expectations. More importantly, he was not sure who “himself”really was.

He was sure of one thing, though. He was no hero.

 

For weeks, Adrien kept his ring in his pocket. He tried to forget that he was in possession of a very powerful object. Needless to say, it did not work.

Nino, the only person he could truly call his friend (his best friend, even, said Nino once, leaving Adrien flustered and happier than he ever felt), sensed that Adrien was feeling rather down. This caused the blond many headaches: wasn’t he supposed to tell the truth to his best friend? Honesty and trust were the root of every great friendship, right?

When he had assured Plagg that he would never use the ring, the kwami had just shrugged before warning him, in a very matter-of-fact tone that some people would be after its powers, and Adrien had to be careful, since he had, had noted the small cat-like creature, no intention of throwing the ring away.

Adrien could not put Nino in danger. He could not drag him into this madness.

So he started lying, like he always did.

“It’s okay” said Adrien with a small smile while they were waiting for their teacher to arrive. “I just have a lot of work these days, with the photo shoots, the fencing club… I just need some sleep.”

Nino frowned slightly, but Adrien could tell it was with concern for his friend, and not because he did not believe him.

“Bro, you’re always so busy!” remarked Nino, scratching his head. “No wonder you’re tired. You need to chill. Wanna watch a movie tonight? You can come to my home. I’m sure Madame Rousseau won’t give us any homework for tomorrow.”

Adrien’s heart felt heavy in his chest. He wanted to tell Nino how grateful he was to have him as his friend, but his mouth would not obey. So he stayed silent. Nino grinned. At this very moment, they did not need words to communicate.

Paris had always been a city full of a thousand of noises during the day and relatively calm during the night. However, since the beginning of the year, strange rumors were circulating in the streets of the City of Light. A trembling shadow under the shining stars, a slim silhouette on the Eiffel Tower, were enough to make people gossip.

“A thief got his ass kicked by a masked lady”, revealed one day a journalist on the news with a smile on his voice. “Or so he says. The police didn’t find any evidence of such a superwoman, and the poor man was so drunk that he passed out in front of the house he was trying to rob.”

Another day, a woman in her thirties interviewed for a newspaper claimed that she saw a girl whose face was hidden by a mask trying to stop a man with eagle wings. She was not the only one, and a video containing the scene was leaked shortly after. It was too dark to tell, but there was indeed someone jumping, building from building, after a huge moving outline.

Plagg was on Adrien’s bed when the boy was looking at the video. He thought that the kwami was sleeping, like he always seemed to do, and jumped with surprised when he heard him state:

“Hum, hum. Things are getting interesting.”

 When Adrien enquired about this statement, Plagg lazily turned away and pretended to fall asleep. Adrien sighed, returning to his screen, searching for every bit of information he could find on the vigilante of Paris.

 

“I’m Ladybug, and I’m protecting Paris!”

This was the first clear footage of the masked girl that the television broadcasted. She had become more and more present in the streets, until she started showing during daytime too. At first, people thought that she was an actress promoting an action movie, or a Parkour fan. It seemed that the French capital had become the theater of strange events: someone was turning the habitants into supervillains, and the only person who was suitable to save them (and the citizens they were threatening while being “possessed”) was Ladybug.

When Adrien saw her, he knew. She had a miracle stone, just like him. It was not that hard to figure it out. Plagg had vaguely described the powers that those artifacts could provide, hopping maybe that it would motivate his human to take action. How could a girl in a red suit with black spots save Paris with a yo-yo if she didn’t have some kind of powers?

Looking at pictures of her made Adrien feel weird. One of his classmates, Alya, had created a blog dedicated to the superhero. It was full of blurry picture and videos where it was nearly impossible to distinguish anything because the camera had been constantly moving. Nevertheless, Alya had succeeded in taking one picture with the masked girl in front of the Arc de Triomphe, after she had stopped a mad architect from destroying the monument in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle. Adrien had no idea how his classmate did that, but taking a selfie with her favorite superhero must have been the highlight of her life. She looked so happy, her golden eyes glowing behind her glasses as a blush had spread across her cheeks, whereas Ladybug seemed ready to disappear anytime soon. She was not looking directly at the phone, but at the young girl you had forced her to stay with her and who was grabbing her shoulders. Wide-eyed in astonishment, a strand of her blueish-black hair was on her half-opened mouth. It was not the most flattering picture of Ladybug on the Internet, but it was the one that helped Adrien realize that she was probably a teenager, just like him. She looked so young! How could she be saving the world and be a teenager at the same time?

“Are you drooling over that Ladybug, Adrien?” Plagg’s voice brought him back to reality, a reality where he still had to memorize a sheet for his piano lesson and had a ton of homework.

“ _No!_ ”Adrien’s cheeks turned red. “No, it’s not like that! I just… She’s using her miracle stone to save the city. That’s… Really brave, right? I mean… When I look closely at her, she doesn’t seem too old, even if I could be wrong. And what is she doing with her free time? Saving Paris.”

His kwami was next to his face, and Adrien had the absurd fear that he could feel the heat coming from his cheeks.

“Well, well, well”, said Plagg simply.

 

By the end of March, Adrien had seen Ladybug fighting from afar at least twice. Once, he was going to school and the traffic was slowed down by some villain causing havoc. Adrien had opened the window of his father’s luxurious car just in time to see the red superhero catching the bad guy of the week with her magical yo-yo. She had screamed “Gotcha!” with such a child-like enthusiasm that Adrien had felt as if someone had started using his stomach as shoelaces, twisting it in every possible way.

The second time, he was in the middle of a photo shoot in the Jardin du Luxembourg when he saw Ladybug falling in the pool. People around him started the running and screaming, whereas he could not stop looking at the water, waiting for Ladybug to come to the surface, until people blocked him the view. Was she safe? The water was freezing. What if she couldn’t swim? Adrien tried to grab his ring in his pocket. It was empty.

What an idiot! He had decided to put his ring in a locked box weeks ago! The crowd started cheering. Adrien had to stand on tiptoe to see Ladybug, her suit soaking, as she rised from the pool and used her lucky charm to stop the villain who looked like a mix between a tiger and a fairy (it was quite an image).

On an impulse, Adrien tried to get closer to her, but after purifying the black butterfly that was now as white as snow, Ladybug simply waved at the crowed before disappearing on a rooftop.

Gone. And he had not been able to talk to her.

Afterwards, he spent a lot of time locked in his room, trying to come up with a solution. He was full of contradictions, of fears and hope. It was almost midnight when he woke Plagg up with a slice of cheese.

“Hey, there’s something I want to try out tonight.”

 

It was fantastic. The cold wind was blowing through his messy blond hair while he was jumping, rooftop from rooftop. The moon was hidden by thick grey clouds, but it was not an issue for him: he could see everything, as if someone had turned on the lights for him and him only. He was faster, stronger, more graceful, his stamina had increased.

He was no longer Adrien Agreste. He was Chat Noir.

His head was dizzy with the rush of power. Nothing was impossible anymore as he ran under the endless night sky.

Why did he have to wait so long to feel _so good_?

It took him half an hour of pure happiness before running into the girl he wanted to see the most. She was standing on a building, her straight back against the chimney, looking over the quiet city. She had heard him arriving: before he could do anything ( _Oh my God, she was so close, what was he supposed to do?_ ), she caught him with her yo-yo.

_What._

Chat Noir almost fell from the rooftop. He yelped as Ladybug pulled him effortlessly on the rooftop. Bound hand and foot, Chat Noir had easily been overlooked by the heroine who was now squinting at him. Was she pouting?

“I had such a bad day!” she cried, sounding really exasperated. “We went back to two Akumas a day, now? You picked a bad time to get your butt kicked.”

“No, no, no, Ladybug!” Chat Noir almost yelled, his dignity already long gone. “I’m here to help you actually. Look at my ring.“

He tried to point at his miracle stone, but he could hardly move. Confused, Ladybug took his hand (she was actually _touching him?_ ).

"What? So… You’re not a bad guy?” She still looked suspicious.

Chat Noir’s blood had stopped circulating in his veins. She did not go easy on him with her yo-yo. He could hardly breathe, and his face was turning bright red.

“Hum, yeah”, he says, flustered, with a cocky grin. “I’m Chat Noir, Paris’s new superhero. Looking for a partner, my Lady?”

He did not think before talking. The words had simply escaped from his mouth. It was something new: being Adrien, he had always been careful with his choice of words, with his tone. But Chat Noir was different: he could be shamelessly flirting with a girl who could kick his ass in a matter of seconds. It felt good.

Behind a mask, he could be anyone. He decided to be as natural as possible: Ladybug did not know Adrien, she had no expectations when it came to him. He could not let her down.

Ladybug laughed. Truly, heartily. Chat Noir knew she was laughing at him, but right now, he did not care: his heart was singing in his warm chest like a nightingale. That was a new sensation, too.

“ _You_ want to help _me_? No offense, but I caught you with no trouble. How long have you been fighting, Kitty?”

She seemed more relaxed when she released him and helped him stand up. For the first time, Chat Noir realized how blue her eyes really were. Another fast heartbeat, another weird sensation in his stomach.

“Well, I just need some practice, no big deal” assured Chat Noir, simply shrugging. “Plus, you could use a hand. Paris needs at least two superheroes in spandex and leather to be fully covered, right?”

Ladybug seemed to think about this possibility for a moment. Villains were getting more frequent. There was no way she could protect the capital all by herself, even though nobody could deny that she was good at her job.

“We’ll see”,she said finally, her voice no more than a whisper in the silence of the chilly night. “You could start by patrolling tonight. I could use some sleep. And maybe show yourself next time someone gets transformed, uh?”

“Always here to serve as your knight, Ladybug.”

With the shadow of a smirk on her face, she left before he could stop her. It looked like she was flying between the building and the street lights, as graceful as ever. When she was gone, Chat Noir could hardly believe that he had actually met her, and that he had flirted with her.

He had so many things to tell her! How he admired her bravery, how she inspired him to take action, how he wanted to be as confident as her.

“I will see you again”, he whispered for himself, admiring the landscape below his feet. He was now serious. He had found this ring for a reason. Chat Noir would serve and protect this city and its citizens, because it was his duty, because he wanted too.

As the sun was rising, showering idly the streets with its springtime sunbeams, Chat Noir returned home to become once more Adrien. Exhausted, he could feel nevertheless a deep emotion tightening his throat. It would be the beginning of a beautiful story for him.


End file.
